Source: Radio New Zealand
University of Auckland researchers will trial technology which they hope will allow asthma sufferers to predict attacks up to a week ahead of time. Unsplash
People with asthma could soon be using smartwatches to predict asthma attacks up to a week ahead of time.
Researchers at the University of Auckland will soon be trialling the technology, one of the first major breakthroughs in asthma care in decades.
Mother of three Jade Stevens was diagnosed with severe asthma in her late 20s.
At its worst, she said she was in and out of the hospital once a month, a massive challenge for her and her young family.
“My youngest, when I dropped him off at school one day, he was five, and he said to me, ‘mummy, please don’t die today’. And it just broke my heart,” she said.
“It broke me. I pulled myself together and reassured him, but I couldn’t give him a true promise or guarantee, you know?”
Even with a new biological treatment that she says has changed her life, Stevens said the threat of a sudden asthma still loomed.
“Sometimes they come completely out of the blue. You can be fine one minute and then not the next. It’s really scary,” she said.
“It’s really scary not knowing, not being able to breathe, the tightness in your lungs, not getting enough air, not getting enough oxygen.”
Amy Chan, the head of Auckland University’s School of Pharmacy, said asthma treatment was too reactive.
But with modern smart technology, she had found a way to predict asthma attacks before symptoms appeared.
“We gave [asthma patients] smartwatches to wear for six months, and we got them to basically log their symptoms, how they were feeling, and also telling us when they had an asthma attack,” she explained.
“And we’ve come to this conclusion that there is indeed a digital signature up to about seven days before an attack happens.”
That gave patients an entire week to prepare themselves and hopefully avoid an attack entirely.
“What this does is it gives an objective way and a numerical way to actually say, hey, your risk is this particular percentage, this is the likelihood of you having an attack in the next seven days and we really suggest that you keep a close eye,” Chan said.
Amy Chan says the technology has found a way to predict asthma attacks before the symptoms appeared. Supplied / University of Auckland
Letitia Harding, the chief executive of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, said that could make a huge difference for hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders.
“We know that over 615,000 people take medications for asthma [in New Zealand], and of course almost a hundred people die each year still from asthma,” she said.
“Having a smart watch that could predict these asthma attacks, when they’re likely, is going to be a game changer.”
Because there was no cure for asthma, Harding said being prepared was vital.
“If it’s predicting that you’re going to have an asthma attack or more likely to have one in the week, then you’re probably going to be more vigilant to make sure you’ve got your inhaler on you, that it’s not expired, that you have an asthma management plan ahead of time, that you can even tell friends and relatives that you’ve got a high likelihood of having an asthma attack.”
Jade Stevens said being warned about an asthma attack ahead of time would give her peace of mind.
“It can be very quick when you have an asthma attack. So if you knew it was going to happen, you would be able to almost prevent it from happening or be as severe,” she said.
“You don’t have to worry about it so much. It’s almost like someone keeping an eye on it with you.”
Former All Black Steve Devine he has been hospitalised with asthma a number of times. Photosport / John Cowpland
Former All Black turned firefighter Steve Devine grew up with asthma, which he said put him in hospital a number of times.
“There were sporting events I was in as a kid that I would have an attack and end up in hospital, the lungs shutting down and not being able to get the air in,” he recalled.
“To have a bit of technology that could tell you that it’s probably going to happen is pretty awesome.”
Amy Chan planned to start a randomised control trial in June to compare people using smartwatches to those without.
“What we want to know for sure is, what do people do when people get an alert? Do they ignore it? Do they act on it? Do they go see the doctor? Does it work to prevent the attacks? That’s what we hope to tell you, the findings, in 18 months or two years.”
She hoped the technology could one day be used to help bring the number of asthma deaths down to zero.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand